Improvement in horse-hitching devices



o. s. Hosmm.

HORSE-HITCHIN'G DEVICE.

Patentei May 29,1877.

No. 191,4Z9.

r. a immw 1 I}. FFI'ERi PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D C, D

UNITED A STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

oREN s. HOSMER, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE-HITCHING DEVICES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 191,429, dated May 29, 1877; application filed February 26, 1877..

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, OREN S. HOSMER, of Boston, Suffolk county, Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Devices for Hitching Horses, of which the following is a a specification:

This invention relates to a class of snap or safety hooks for hitching horses, dogs, &c., in which the mouth or opening of the hook is closed by a latch, pivoted at one end to the shank of the hook, and opening inward against the pressure of a spring, to permit of entrance of the ring of the rope or chain.

My improvement consists in a born or projection formed upon the outer part of the latch, and disposed outside of the point of the hook, and serving not only as a thumb-piece, by which the latch may be forced inward against the stress of its spring, but as a guard to prevent the ring from being twisted out of the hook, except when the said latch (by means of the thumbpiece) is forced inward.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figure 1, a vertical section, in Fig. 2 afront view, and in Fig. 3 a detail section, of a device embodying my improvement.

In these drawings, A represents a fiat plate, and B a stout hook secured to one face of it, in a suitable manner, the point of the hook being uppermost, and its inclosure a being sufficiently large to easily receive the ring 0, which is attached to the halter-rope D.

E in the drawings represents a latch composed of a fiat block of metal pivoted to the upper part of the face-plate A by a pin, a, and formed with a crescentshaped notch or recess, b, which leaves horns c d disposed one upon each side of the prong e of the hook B, the lower part or horn d of the latch E being pressed outward against the prong e by a spring, arranged as shown in the drawing.

The notch b is of such size and shape as (when in the proper position) to easily receive the ring 0, and when in a closed position, as shown in Fig. l of the drawings serves to prevent accidental escape of such ring from the inclosure a.

When it is desired to unfasten the animal, the latch E is turned downward upon its pivot until its horn is in contact with the prong of the hook, when the ring is forced upward between such prong and the horn. The ring is now forced upward until it passes the prong of the hook, when the latch returns to its nor- -mal position, and a clear roadway is left for the removal of the ring.

To fasten the animal, one side of the ring is simply inserted in the notch b of the latch E E, and pushed downward until the stress of the spring f is overcome, and the ring passes down into the body of the hook.

The swivel before alluded to for securing the ring 0 to the halter-rope D is shown at F as consisting of a metallic strap bent into the form of a yoke, F, into the bend g of which the ring is inserted and remains, while the arms h h of such yoke are formed with transverse holes z' i to receive the rope D, as shown in the drawings.

To securely confine the rope to the swivel, I employ a cam-dog, G, pivoted between the arms h, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and of such shape that, crowded inward, it shall gripe the rope with a powerful pressure against the lower sides of the holes 6 6. Turning the dog G outward it falls away from the rope, and the position of the latter within the swivel may be changed to suit circumstances.

The swivel thus made constitutes a very convenient means of varying the length of the halter-rope with respect to the ring and the animals head, and when the proper length of such rope has been ascertained it will always remain unless intentionally changed.

I claim as my invention as follows:

The thumb-piece or horn 0 making part of the latch E, and disposed. outside of the point or prong c of the hook, substantially as and for'purposes stated.

OREN S. HOSMER.

Witnesses:

JOHN OosTELLo, W. E. BOARDMAN. 

